With Rainfall and Aid, the Number Facing Starvation in Somalia Drops by Half a Million

Since we have recently talked about the UN programs to help solve the major problems of the South, I chose this article which gives a pretty clear view of the importance of these kinds of aids.

First of all, Somalia has been struggling considerably since the collapse of its central government in 1991, the country is almost totally controlled by the Shabab (my previous post), a militant group that controls much of southern Somalia and that has been blocking aid agencies from reaching people in need.

These agencies have been scrambling to find ways to avoid the reach of the Shabab, even having to send money via cell phones so that people could survive and buy food in markets. The efforts seem to be working. According to a recent report , more food is flowing through markets and prices are falling. In addition to this, seasonal rainfall has also helped this country which relies mainly on its agriculture. Three regions of southern Somalia, Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle, which were famine zones a few months ago are now classified as one step less severe than a famine.

Going back to the UN programs, according to UN officials, the number of people facing imminent starvation in Somalia dropped to nearly 250,000 from 750,000 because of rainfall and increased aid deliveries. The situation is still horrible, however this aid has helped reduce starvation and with this, mortality rates.

As we see these programs do help eradicate some huge problems down South, it is extremely hard to get rid of this problem, but little by little the impact is being done. We can´t give up, we have to continue to put our trust in these programs, and all together in the United Nations, we can save millions of people, especially kids, which need our help to survive.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/world/africa/somalia-famine-eases-with-rainfall-and-aid.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=somalia&st=cse

Morocco told to stop harassing vote boycott activists

Non-profit organization Human Rights Watch published a statement on Wednesday denouncing Moroccan police abuses on demonstrators who are calling for boycott in Friday parliamentary elections -which are broadly considered flawed and corrupt among the population- all over the country. According to them, the police is doing so in order to prevent an expectedly low voter turnout  from becoming even lower, and in compliance with a legal prerrogative that allows detention of protestors "who use false information" to change the citizens' mind.

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This kind of abuses and the lack of enforcement of what should be a constitutional, basic right -freedom of speech- makes it clear that Morocco is still far from being a democratic regime. These recent events, together with the history of authoritarianism in Moroccan politics and the fear that this week's elections will only take place to calm down the citizens and not to walk towards democratization leads me to think that a massive uprising and a transition similar to the ones that occured in Tunisia earlier this year is the only thing that can bring democracy to the Kingdom of Morocco.

Furukawa ends 5½-month ISS stay

A Soyuz space capsule returned to Earth descending onto a plain in Kazakhstan on Tuesday carrying three astronauts, including Satoshi Furukawa from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Mike Fossum from NASA and Sergei Volkov, a Russian cosmonaut, after all three completed five and a half month mission aboard the International Space Station.

The Japanese astronaut, Furukawa set a record for the longest stay on the station by a Japanese astronaut in a single voyage. 

Initially, the program was set to last 161 days but I had to be postponed a week due to the accident of the Russian Progress spacecraft, the Progress M-12M, that crashed just after launching last August.

The three men looked well and had to undergo a checkup in the Station and then another one at landing to get adjusted to gravity. 

However, the space conquest does not stop here, NASA's Dan Burbank and Russians Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin remain onboard the International Space Station in order to realize 37 experiments. They arrived at the Station Wednesday and are due to return to Earth in March. Besides, a launch next month will bring the station back to its normal six-member crew. 

Space missions in and outside the ISS keep on coming. The conquest of the Space is far from being over. In fact, this Saturday another scientific laboratory and the rover Curiosity will be sent to Mars. In my opinion this is a very important task and that, as we are doing, we should continue doing experiments and search for new data about something we know so little about. 

Article from The Japan Times, Tuesday, Nov. 22

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111122x3.html

Canadians willing to pay $400k to save polar bears

A study has shown that canadians are willing to spend over 500 dollars per household to maintain the iconic polar bear. The north american country has 15,000 bears about two-thirds of the world's polar bear population. The polar bear is not just another specie under risk of extintion, but is an iconic animal that attracts tourism and has a great value as hunting game. Even a Conservative senator has declared that polar bear is even more of a national symbol than a beaver.

In my opinion the polar bear must be protected, not only based on its iconic figure but also on the fact that it is an animal at-risk. It is important to notice that canadians will only give 107 dollars to protect the beluga whale, based on the fact that it has a less symbolic importance but still is an at-risk species. I believe that there is no need to set prices on animals specially when they are at risk of extintion, and even less based on its iconic image to a country.

Source:http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/11/23/polar-bears-worth-thousands.html

Greek Economic Plan in 2012

Greece will not have to adopt new austerity measures in 2012 if the reforms that have been approved are to be implemented, says the Finance minister of Greece, Evangelos Venizelos. In 2012, the new Executive of Lukás Papadimos´ coalition government foresees a public deficit of 5.4% of the GDP if the agreements of October are implemented, including the debt relief of 50% of public debt of the country. The budget anticipates, in 2012, a fiscal gap of around 6.7% compared to the 9% with which Greece is expected to end this year.

A deficit reduction will be made even though the country is expected to suffer a recession stronger than anticipated, with the GDP expected to fall by 2.8% in 2012 instead of the 2.5% that has been measured in 2011. According to the Greek Executive, these forecasts are correct, thanks to ambitious austerity plans and cuts adopted in public spending.

First of all, it is understood that the new Greek economy minister says Greece will not have to implement further austerity measures, as those implemented before were too strong and traumatic for a developed society, thus also were needed. These measures included: a reduction of the salary of civil servants by 25%; an increase of two years in the retirement age; an increase of VAT; or a new tax on real estate.

On the one hand, it is interesting to note that Greece will see the colossal public deficit that it holds reduced entirely by the help of the EU, whose terms stipulate that the Greece´s repayment to the EU will only be half of the initial debt. Without this debt relief Greece would not keep going. However, on the other hand, a country should not have to be bailed out of its own financial crisis for having dug too deep into its pockets, only to be bailed out by its neighbours. It is not that I do not support the bailout, otherwise Greece bankruptcy could create a domino effect on the rest of Europe, but my question is: So is this the way in which we should award a country, which lied and falsified its macroeconomic data? Would not it be better to defer the debt over a decade?

There are several questions that need to be asked about Greece´s financial conduct as Greece now calls on the ECB to help the euro zone to overcome the crisis. In my opinion, the crisis should be solved with good economic management, the liberalization of the labour market and the implementation tax measures to help SMEs.

Finally, I think that the blame for this great recession in Greece does not come only from the Greek government, but also from the European Union because it let Greece to join the organization when it did not fulfill the requirements.

Mario Monti prepares Italy for more pain as violence flares in Milan.

The upper house of the Italian parliament has given a vote of confidence to the country's new prime minister, Mario Monti (Italian economist and former European commissioner). In his first day as a prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, the former one warned him that he has to be careful because he still has the majority in the senate. Monti presented his government program to the senate, carrying out another package of deficit-reduction measures, according to the European institutions, and also more reductions in order to get money and save Italy. However, this made the people go to the streets in Milan and protest because of these austerity measures and high taxes.

It is important to know the current economic situation of certain countries in Europe because of the crisis, and it is also important to note that anyone, whether politician or economist, can work miracles. The situation is awful in Italy, and it is very difficult to take measures such as raising taxes because the government needs to have money, but the population refuses to pay higher taxes and also refuses to have reductions in education, health, etc. Although Monti takes into account this last, he has said he needs to raise taxes to bring up Italy.
Moreover, Berlusconi still has the majority in the Senate, and this is very dangerous because it may come a time when Berlusconi makes use of this majority, and Monti would stop being prime minister, as Berlusconi did a few days ago. However, and this is my personal opinion, Silvio Berlusconi will not make use of it, knowing that this election of a new prime minister came from Napolitano (11th President of Italy), because if Berlusconi vote against Monti, it will be probably general elections where the Italians would not vote him and he would lose the majority.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/17/monti-prepares-italy-for-more-pain

US Peace Corps quits Kazakhstan

US President John F. Kennedy established Peace Corps in 1961, in order to promote American ideals abroad. Since then it has sent more than 200,000 volunteers to work in 139 countries around the world. Peace Corps has operated in Kazakhstan without interruption since 1993. Since then, over 1,120 Americans have served in Kazakhstan working with communities in projects focused on teaching English, education, youth development, HIV/AIDS prevention, and community development. And, this month the US Peace Corps is leaving the country. In a statement, Peace Corps said it was suspending its program in Kazakhstan for “a number of operational considerations”, but without giving a clear reason.

It is important to highlight that since Kazakhstan´s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the country has built up a reputation as one of the most stable countries in Central Asia. Some newspapers ensure that the reason of leaving was the rape of a Peace Corps volunteer, and the alert of radical Islamists attacks as the one that happened a week ago when a gunman killed seven people. However, the Kazakh education ministry ensures that Peace Corps is leaving because of the country´s rapid social and economic development over the past years. From my point of view, the US Peace Corps is leaving Kazakhstan because almost all of its programs are completed. Propelled by revenues from oil, Kazakhstan´s economy is booming and before this year terrorist attacks had been unheard of. Therefore, I think this movement of radical Islamists is not the main reason of leaving the country. My opinion is that the suspension of activities in the country is the logical action, taking into account the fact that Kazakhstan has reached progress in political, social, and economic development and that Kazakhstan is currently a country with the above average level of income and an increasingly important global energy supplier.


Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/kazakhstan/8899201/US-Peace-Corps-quits-Kazakhstan.html